Rising tensions? Prince William and Princess Kate weren’t thrilled by the first teaser for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s Netflix docuseries, an insider exclusively reveals in the new issue of Us Weekly.
“Kate and William were left flummoxed when the Netflix trailer aired during their trip to Boston,” the source says of the Prince and Princess of Wales, both 40. “It’s put a huge amount of strain on relationships that are already hanging by a thread.”
The first teaser footage from the upcoming series dropped online on Thursday, December 1, as the future king and his wife were in the middle of their first visit to the United States in eight years. The duo traveled to Boston for the Earthshot Prize awards, touching down in Massachusetts on November 30.
Prince William, Princess Kate, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Tim Rooke/Shutterstock; Kirsty O’Connor/WPA Pool/Shutterstock
In a full trailer released on Monday, December 5, the Duke of Sussex, 38, seemingly claimed that the royal family planted negative stories about him and the Suits alum, 41, before their January 2020 decision to step down as senior working royals. While that claim may upset members of The Firm, the insider tells Us that the couple were set on sharing their experience with the world.
“Harry and Meghan wear their heart on their sleeve in the docuseries and blow the lid off the prejudice they experienced at the palace,” the source tells Us. “They were adamant about getting their side of the story out there, especially Harry.”
Still, the timing of the trailer’s release didn’t go unnoticed by royal observers, some of whom wondered why the drop coincided with William and Kate’s long-planned trip to the U.S.
“To drop it as they have on the first or second day of the Prince and Princess of Wales’s trip to the U.S. for the Earthshot Prize shows just exactly how much they wanted to hijack that publicity,” royal expert Jonathan Sacerdoti exclusively told Us earlier this month. “It just shows how much they will go to any end at all for as much publicity as possible.”
The teaser footage included a still photo from the March 2020 Commonwealth Service that the Invictus Games founder and the former actress attended alongside William and Kate shortly after announcing their plans to step back from the royal family. The event made headlines at the time for the seemingly chilly way the brothers interacted with each other.
According to Sacerdoti, the Netflix series — which premieres on Thursday, December 8 — isn’t likely to help matters. “This is really a punch to the royal family once again from [Harry and Meghan],” the journalist told Us. “I think it’s pretty hard [for the royal family] not to pay attention to this. … You can’t ignore it. It’s a constant noise for them and it’s something that they’d like to go away.”
For more on where Harry and Meghan stand with William and Kate, watch the video above and pick up the new issue of Us Weekly, on stands now.